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Peter Chiarelli Post-Development Camp Media Availability

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Staff Writer
/ Boston Bruins

BOSTON BRUINS DEVELOPMENT CAMP QUOTES

Sunday, July 13, 2014

BOSTON BRUINS GENERAL MANAGER PETER CHIARELLIOn who stood out for him during camp…Yeah, those two players [David Pastrnak, Linus Arnesson] played well. It was – [David] Pastrnak obviously – you saw how he played, probably stood out the most for me. You know, these camps are the starting point of their professional careers for the first year guys like a Pastrnak, a second year guy like Arnesson. But it’s a pretty good indicator as to where they’ll end up. A lot of things can happen but I was pleased with Pastrnak. There’s only been a couple players that have showed that at these camps over the years. He’s still got a little ways to go but I’m very happy with Pastrnak. You know, I thought [Anton] Blidh had a strong camp, I thought Arnesson had a strong camp. You know, the first year guys, I think their eyes were opened a little bit. But I was happy, it’s been the most skill we’ve had in a long time at this camp.

On if David Pastrnak could push for a spot…You never know. As I said, there’s only been – for me there’s only been – you don’t want to place too much of a burden on this kid’s shoulders, but he was good. You know like the hesitation you have is he’s 170 -173 pounds, but he’s wiry strong, so you never know. Speed, skill, sense is all there so it would be nice, but we’ll see. But you know, he’s young and to throw someone like that at that age, at that weight – but there have been guys who have done it.

On if transfer rules would allow Linus Arnesson to play in the NHL…No. No, in fact he’ll attend camp and then he’ll go back and play with his Swedish club, that is already predetermined. That’s in his contract.

On if it is determined if David Pastrnak is going to training camp…Not yet, I’m working on it. So we’ve got – there’s a couple of signing milestones, deadlines. One is the fifteenth for players over the Swedish transfer agreement and then there’s another one, it might be a month later, you have to pay a little extra money to the Federation. So if we can get him signed, which I anticipate we will be able to, you’ll see him in camp.

On if he can get Matt Bartkowski locked up before arbitration…I think we will, yeah. The same still stands about the nine defensemen, so I still have a little bit of work to do. But with regards to Bart [Matt Bartkowski], yeah I think we’ll get a deal done. There’s just been so much stuff going on, we’re getting to that stuff shortly.

On if he is working about guys coming up for next year…We’ve got – I’m not going to go into details as to our negotiations. I can say that we will try and get guys done, I try and be proactive and we’re working on a couple things right now.

On how important it is to get another right shot on the wing…You know what, it gives you flexibility, it gives you – there’s not a lot of guys out there that can shoot it and you can automatically put on that half wall for the one timer. So it might be that that guy is not available. You know what, it’s a task that I will continue to look at the rest of the year, the rest of the summer and into the fall, even as we progress. There are guys out there at we are looking at right now. We’ve got some internal guys that you might be able to put in that are ready or very close to being ready. Part of the master scheme here is that we’ve got some players here whose deals are coming up that we have to sign and they are important players. I’m not diminishing the value of the younger players but we want to try and keep as much of the core players together as possible. So part of that formula is that you’re going to have to pay them some money and then as a result you’re going to have to get the younger guys in.

On his reaction to the Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane deals… Those are – it didn’t surprise- me that it was a big number.

On having a guy who is slotted a little below the money Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane signed for…Well, there’s wanting to remain with a winning organization and then there’s wanting to get them to the market and to me, there is a difference and they don’t always merge for me. They don’t always merge, people tend to think they have to merge but they don’t always merge. So we have guys coming up that we have to sign and we’re planning for it.

On if AAVs will be gong up over time…It’ll go up, it’ll go up because, well probably because of that, it’s an upwards magnet. That’s not unexpected and when the cap is expected to rise, teams will continue to spend more money. It’s hard to delve into the completely free market because you saw some of those deals and all it takes is one team to pay that money or term and you're right there with them then. So that’s why we’re trying to keep the guys we can keep and we’re going to have to pay the money. It’s not going to be cheap.

On if it it’s possible that he will bring a “second tier” free agent to the team…Maybe, you know like you asked me about [David] Pastrnak earlier. He’s young and he’s light but stuff like that happens. You see something that might pop up in our training camp so there’s a list of guys that I’m looking at and there is also a list of guys internally. I like the competition, you’ve heard me talk about the competition. I think it really energizes the team and guys bubble up, they thrive in it. So I’m balancing the two things and there are a lot of our players available right now.

On if Matt Fraser could battle for a spot…Well he’s played on the right side, he can really shoot it. We haven’t got him signed yet but we’ll get him signed shortly. Yeah you can certainly – he’s showed that he can play a two-way game and that you can put him up on that lineup because you end up getting all the matchups right? So you have to have a responsible player up there. But you know, he’s a guy that we’re going to have a look at.

On if he’d want to see different thinks from David Pastrnak at training camp…Well there’s a progression right? There’s the camp: bigger, stronger, faster. There’s the preseason: bigger, stronger, faster. And there’s the under 20 players you’ve got that cushion, you’ve got those nine games again bigger, faster, stronger regular season. So there’s three levels there and in my time here and before I was here we’ve had under 20 players play, I’ve had been part of under 20 players playing teenagers and they go through each of their stages and it’s another test, another test and then you make the decision.

On Alexander Khokhlachev and Ryan Spooner being considered options…Yeah, those are two guys that I thought both had very strong years and both are centers, both – we’ve talked about it internally about maybe trying them on the wing. Whether it would be fair to them or not – we’ve had success putting centers at the wing. Center’s a tough position to play in the NHL. They're both – you’ve seen [Ryan] Spooner up here, he had a very strong year, strong playoff. [Alexander] Khokhlachev had a real strong second half, terrific second half. He was – him and Spoons [Ryan Spooner] were arguably their best players down there in the playoffs so you’ve got to give them some time too.

On if he would have to change the roster around a little…Could be, yeah, yeah, could be. They’re [Alexander Khkolachev and Ryan Spooner] both natural centers but [Phil] Kessel and [Tyler] Seguin coming in were natural centers too. When you move someone to the wing, it’s the board work, right? That’s what’s really tough and it’s almost like pick your poison a little bit with the young guys. But both those players both have really good sticks and they’re smart so body position, timing, getting pucks out on the boards, that’s the trickiest part when you go from center to wing and then a standing start.On if Gregory Campbell could be a candidate to move to the wing…Yeah, yeah no he could be. That’s been discussed too.

On signing David Pastrnak…Right now in my mind there’s three spots open. Really there’s all spots open right? It’s all open for competition but there’s three spots. So he’s – again I don’t want to place – you saw him, I thought he looked strong.

On if what he saw at development camp made him want to hold off on David Pastrnak…What it did is like, wow I have to take a second look at this, understanding that he is 171 pounds.

On the three openings being three forwards…Yeah, we’ve got nine D.

On if he is looking for an enforcer or if he thinks the team toughness is already there…I believe it’s already there, I do. Also we have a couple of candidates that played in Providence that surely could fit in if we need them. I really think it’s already there, I do. And you’re going to see Adam [McQuaid] back, whoever’s playing D, we’ve got some tough guys there that can hold up their own. So I believe it’s already there.

On if the injured guys are scheduled to come back…Yeah, everything is progressing as scheduled and I would anticipate them all ready to play and compete at the start of training camp.

On how important the decision is of where Ryan Donato will play next year…You know, it’s important. We’ve had discussions with Ted [Donato] and we’ll let some things unfold. There’s a lot of elements that are involved here and we’ll have some further discussions with Ted and the family and Ryan [Donato]. So it’s important. He’s a – we used a second round pick to acquire him, he’s a very skilled player, you saw some of the plays he made out there, he’s a very good prospect. And that’s the old prep school versus juniors and all that stuff. It’s not new, it’s just a little closer to home because of the personalities involved.

On if he can appreciate the decision more based on where Ryan Donato is going to go to college…Yeah, I guess you could say that maybe it’s the best team that drafted him for that reason because we’ve got two guys here that went to that school [Harvard University] and understand and appreciate it. But again, it’s something that’s not new, this kind of decision. It happens every year with teams and players and we just have to get all the information together. The fact that Donnie [Sweeney] and I know Ted and his family well helps for full discloser and transparency and all that stuff.

On what he hopes Malcolm Subban would get out of camp…Malcolm [Subban] wanted to come to this camp. We’ve given a couple of guys this camp off just because of the number of camps they’ve – and this would have been Malcolm’s, I guess it would have been his third. He had showed us a lot of progress this year on the ice and off the ice and we felt it would be okay that if he didn’t come, then we talked to him and he wanted to come. So I was impressed with that and he’s – I thought he had a real – I don’t know if you saw him play down there, you saw quite a bit. He had a slow start but I thought he had a real strong finish. He really came in and he has stuff to work on still but he’s, if you look at his stats and you look at his start, you can really appreciate how well he played. So he’s on the right track.

On Matt Grzelcyk’s performance in development camp this year…I thought it was good. He wasn’t able to participate fully but Matt’s had a good collegiate career so far and I would anticipate that he picks it up again when he gets back. We’ve got some real good skating defenseman and he’s one of them so I was happy with it.

On if this is a dead spot with the team…Well I'm going fishing next week, this week, so it will be a dead spot here.

On if he now has to wait until September to make any moves…No, you know I say that, but I’m always working. There’s stuff going on, it’s just not fast. There’s parameters and deals talked about and it’s just kind of pushing it along slowly. There’s not urgency. It may happen that it happens on the eve of training camp or two days before, because the player has to get to that camp from where he is but it’s slow, it’s slow.